An Interrupted Date
by tpt player 5701
Summary: A "Mind Games"-verse story: Adrien pulled out his wallet to pay. As he was taking the money out, his eye was drawn by a beam of blinding white light that stretched across the restaurant's front windows. The beam struck a car parked on the other side of the street, which exploded in a pillar of fire before being thrown over onto its side and rolling into the storefront next to it.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Originally this was going to be a One-Shot for "An Adrienette Anthology": A cute date that gets interrupted by work. However, I realized at the end that one-shots probably shouldn't end on a cliffhanger so… instead I wrote a three-shot that ends on a slightly _smaller_ cliffhanger!_

_If you are new to my stories, you can read this first chapter by itself without getting lost ("Impératrice Pourpre" is Sabrina, who received the Butterfly Miraculous after the defeat of Hawk Moth, and the Heroes mostly know each other's identities). However, the remainder of the story ties in much more directly to the last full story I wrote, titled "Running out of Time."_

_Finally, although this is a "Valentine's Day Story™," this doesn't actually take place on Valentine's Day. It's actually around October or so, about a month after "Running out of Time."_

* * *

"Dude, are you sure about this?"

Adrien glanced over at Nino as they were walking up to the restaurant. He was frowning, concern in his eyes. Ahead of them, Adrien could see Marinette and Alya standing just outside the doors, waiting. Marinette as always took his breath away in a blouse and skirt she had designed herself. Alya also wore a beautiful dress that Marinette had designed for her for the occasion – burnt orange with white patterning that perfectly matched the Miraculous necklace around her neck. Marinette saw them first and nudged Alya, and both girls waved in greeting.

"You mean about the double date?" Adrien asked, giving him a grin, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Of course – as long as Marinette and I are still invited. It _is_ your two-year anniversary after all."

"Of course you're still invited!" Nino assured him. "Besides, we're still going to do something, just the two of us, for our actual anniversary tomorrow. But I mean, are you sure about this particular restaurant? Taking DJ gigs on weekends pays well enough, but I looked at the menu online, and I can't exactly afford a glass of _water_ here…"

"Relax," Adrien told him, clapping his shoulder. "I wouldn't have suggested this place if I wasn't going to treat. My father may have been a terrible parent, but his business sense was pretty good – when he wasn't Akumatizing half of Paris, at least – so I can at least afford to treat my best friends to a date at a fancy restaurant! My parents used to come here for special occasions, so I know it's good."

"You sure? I mean–"

"Considering all the time and friendship you and Alya and Marinette have given me over the last two years – even _with_ my father making all our lives miserable in _two_ ways – giving us both a nice night out with our ladies is the _least_ I can do, brother!" Adrien joked.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Nino paused and put a finger on his chin. "You owe us _way_ more than a fancy meal, dude!" he teased. "Especially after your dad turned me into an adult-hating nutcase who called himself 'The Bubbler' just because I thought you should have a birthday party!"

"Well, we did give you a Miraculous, so…"

"That was your girl," he retorted. "That doesn't count."

"Hey, boys," Alya called, pulling Nino in for a hug. "You're looking nice, babe. Combed hair and everything?"

"Only the best for you, babe," Nino replied, kissing her.

Adrien held an arm out, and Marinette wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Thanks for doing this," Marinette whispered. She smirked up at him. "A girl could get used to giving her best friend a date at the best restaurant in Paris! You know, if you're not careful, I might start to think you actually _like_ me!"

He tipped her chin back and kissed her deeply. "As if there could be any doubt of _that_, Bugaboo!"

* * *

The waiter walked over to their table just as Alya and Nino were finishing the last bites of their dessert. "Can I get anything else for you, Monsieur?"

Adrien glanced over at the others before turning back to him, smiling, and answering, "No, thank you. Just the check."

"Of course, Monsieur. Just a moment."

The waiter returned a moment later with their check, and Adrien pulled out his wallet to pay. However, as he was taking the money out, his eye was drawn by a beam of blinding white light that stretched across the restaurant's front windows. The beam struck a car parked on the other side of the street, which exploded in a pillar of fire before being thrown over onto its side and rolling into the storefront next to it.

Adrien reacted on instinct. As the sonic boom from the explosion struck and shattered the restaurant's floor-length glass windows, he pushed their table over onto its side, sending dishes and silverware clattering to the floor. He grabbed Marinette and pushed her behind the makeshift shield, as Nino did the same to Alya. Adrien grabbed a wad of €200 bills out of his wallet and pressed them into the waiter's hand, a moment before the man ran for the relative safety of the kitchen. Then Adrien ducked behind the table with the others.

"That looked familiar somehow," Marinette observed, a calculating look in her eyes already. "Remind you of any Akumas?"

"You mean the ones where we were hilariously outmatched?" Adrien asked, grimacing. "I always hated those – right up to the moment you came up with some brilliant plan to somehow trap them in a vat of Ranch dressing!"

"Whoever they are, they have no idea what they messed with," Alya glowered.

"If you're ready, it looks like the room's clear," Nino told them, hazarding a look around their table. "No sign yet of whatever made that explosion."

"Right," Marinette said. "Wouldn't do to ruin this blouse the first time I wear it!" With that, all four heroes transformed together, each removing earpieces from their weapons and placing them in their ears.

Cat Noir led the way around the table into the deserted dining area, his eyes scanning the street outside for any signs of the energy blast's source. He held his staff tightly at the ready position. He watched a small group of police officers creeping past the blown-out windows of the restaurant, led by Lieutenant Raincomprix. The officers suddenly dropped to the ground as an energy beam shot through the area where they had been standing moments before.

Cat Noir turned to the others. "We'd better help them," he said. "Carapace, come with me."

Ladybug nodded. "We'll get to the roof and figure out what's going on."

Cat Noir grabbed her arm. "Be careful, Milady," he whispered.

She pulled him down and kissed him. "Always, my Kitty."

Rena Rouge cleared her throat and gave them a look. "As cute as you two are… don't you boys have something you should be doing right now? Like making sure Sabrina doesn't become an orphan?"

"Uh, right." Cat Noir released Ladybug sheepishly and raced through the restaurant at a sprint, Carapace hot on his heels. The two heroes leapt through the holes where the windows had blown in, just as the police started stirring and pushing themselves to their feet. Cat Noir looked down the street to where the energy blasts had originated, and found a pair of men holding strange-looking weapons and shooting them in every direction. As he watched, one of the men shot a tree, which lit up like a match, bathing the scene in firelight and throwing confusing shadows in every direction against the sun's dying rays.

"Stay behind us!" Carapace called, holding his shield in front of himself with one hand and offering the other to Lieutenant Raincomprix. The officer accepted the assistance gratefully. "What's the situation, sir?"

"You tell me, Carapace," the officer replied, eyes wide. "Is this one of yours? An Akuma?"

_Only if you grounded your daughter!_ Cat Noir thought, biting his tongue to keep from laughing. "This isn't the kind of thing Impératrice Pourpre would do," he contented himself with saying instead. "Those guns look familiar for some reason, but I can't quite place them." He spun his staff to deflect an energy beam from one of the attackers. "We need to find cover!"

Carapace nodded and gestured for half the police to follow him across the street. Seeing where he was going, Cat Noir led Lieutenant Raincomprix and the other officers into an alleyway opposite the one in which Carapace took shelter. His heightened hearing picked up a light thud on the roof above them. He didn't need to look to know it was Ladybug and Rena Rouge, using the roofs to flank the attackers.

"Do you have a plan, Milady?" Cat Noir asked into his earpiece.

"Not yet, Kitty," she replied. There was a grunt and a thud as she landed on the roof of the next building. "Still working on it."

"Glad you guys are already there," another voice said. Cat Noir recognized it as King Monkey. "Multiplice and I are still stuck by the Eiffel Tower. We were on the other side of the city when we felt the explosion."

"Just get here when you can," Cat Noir instructed. He looked at Lieutenant Raincomprix as he continued, "Carapace, we need to keep them focused on the ground while the girls come up with a plan."

"We're set over here. What's the signal?"

Cat Noir glanced behind him. Lieutenant Raincomprix, who already had his men lined up and ready to go, nodded. "Ready… Now!"

Cat Noir sprang out from the cover of the alley, twirling his staff as he did so. The police officers fanned out behind him, handguns out, and began shooting past him at the attackers. On the other side of the road, Carapace and his group copied the move. And, Cat Noir was surprised to see, Ryoku and Taureau Dechaine appeared on the far side, beyond the attackers, leading their own groups of police officers. The attackers turned to face opposite directions, concentrating on the separate groups.

"Whatever you're going to do, you'd better do it fast, girl!" Rena Rouge said over their communicators. "One lucky shot and the Mirage is gone…"

"Find cover!" Cat Noir shouted at the officers behind him, as he and Carapace raced in front of the police, rapidly closing the distance with the shooters. They were still ten meters away when the attacker on the other side shot Taureau Dechaine. The Mirage shimmered and vanished, just as Ladybug leapt from the roof of the building next to the attackers. The attacker who'd been shooting at the Mirage-heroes turned just at that moment and caught a glimpse of Ladybug in midair. He aimed his energy gun at her and shot, as she pulled her Lucky Charm from behind her back. The Lucky Charm-mirror caught the energy beam and reflected it toward the other attacker.

As he saw Ladybug jump, Cat Noir slipped behind Carapace, who held up his shield, crouched, and braced his legs to block an energy blast from the attacker in front of them. As he did so, Cat Noir took a flying leap onto Carapace's back. Carapace pushed up, and Cat Noir springboarded off of his back into the air. He extended his staff to the ground and used it to vault himself over the attacker directly in front of him, aiming feet-first for the one behind.

The reflected energy beam shot past Cat Noir's legs and struck the other attacker's gun. The gun began to melt, and the attacker dropped it an instant before it fizzled and imploded. At the same time, Cat Noir kicked the other attacker in the head. The man dropped the gun and fell to the ground in a daze. Cat Noir kicked the gun away from him. Ladybug landed at his side and threw her Lucky Charm in the air, and Miraculous Ladybug repaired the damage.

As Carapace and Rena Rouge arrived, Ladybug and Cat Noir held their fists out for a fist bump.

"You know," Cat Noir observed, smirking, "I could think of _worse_ date night ideas…"

* * *

_Honestly, if by this point you're surprised that my "Valentine's Day story" about Adrien treating Marinette, Nino, and Alya to a double date at a fancy restaurant ended with them fighting dudes with energy weapons, I refer you back to "Milady" and "Tit for Tat," both of which started from a similar premise!_


	2. Chapter 2

_To The Keeper of Worlds: Yeah, heroes don't get simple date nights too often…_

* * *

The next evening, Adrien and Marinette rode the elevator down to the Heroes of Paris' Headquarters beneath the mansion. Adrien wrapped his arm around Marinette's shoulders and she leaned into him, but they were otherwise quiet and somber. When the elevator stopped, Adrien took her hand and led her to the back corner of the butterfly garden, where they had sectioned off an area the size of Marinette's bedroom for Max to use as a lab. Adrien knocked on the door sharply before letting himself in.

Max himself crouched over the long metal table that took up most of the middle of the room, with Markov the robot hovering beside his head, a red light on his dome showing that he was recording a video. As they approached the table, they could see Max holding something that appeared to be a circuit board with a pair of tweezers while tracing shapes on it with a plastic stick and muttering to himself. Adrien cleared his throat, and Max finally looked up from the table, pushed a pair of binocular magnifiers up away from his eyes, and replaced them with the Miraculous pince nez he'd placed in his shirt pocket.

Kaalki lounged on the far end of the table, nibbling bites off of an apple core and looking bored. Tikki and Plagg immediately flew over to her, and the three Kwamis phased through the wall into the butterfly garden, whispering quietly to each other.

"You said you had something to show us?" Adrien asked, stopping and leaning against the table.

"I analyzed this weapon," Max announced, "and you are not going to believe what I discovered."

"After everything we've been through, you'd be surprised what I would believe," Adrien replied, grinning. "So what is it?"

"I have no idea."

Marinette giggled. "Okay… _that_ I wouldn't believe!"

"No, really, what is it?" Adrien asked, furrowing his brow.

"I'm serious," Max repeated. "Obviously it is an energy weapon of some kind, but that is as much as I know." He frowned.

"Do you know where it came from?" Marinette asked.

He threw his hands in the air. "I have no idea. As far as I can tell, it appeared completely out of nowhere. Human technology has only so much variation. If it were American or Russian or Iranian or… if it were _terrestrial_, we would be able to see the influence of other _human_ designs. But this… it is _completely foreign_. Take this circuit board, for instance: it operates on the same principle as the circuit boards I used to build Markov, but the wiring is completely unlike anything I have ever seen!"

"I have run countless searches of military and private databases," Markov supplied, "and there is no record of anything matching this description in any of them."

"It even comes down to the materials it is made of," Max added. "Some of these compounds – the superconductor in the wiring, in particular – are not actually found naturally on Earth!"

"That may be," Adrien objected, "but something about it felt… familiar. I don't know exactly what it was, though. Maybe the energy it was using?"

"Could it be based on the miraculous?" Marinette asked. "Maybe that's why it feels familiar, because Akumas sometimes use energy beams."

Max shook his head. "Can't be miraculous-based," he told them. "Markov and I have been analyzing the miraculous, remember? The miraculous all have minor variations, but the energy they use is constant. I cannot track miraculous energy yet, but I _can_ tell you that whatever energy this weapon is emitting, it operates on a completely different frequency from that of the miraculous."

"What about magic?" Adrien tried. "Something other than miraculous magic, I mean."

"No, this is definitely not magic" Max insisted. He pointed to the internal workings of the weapon. "It has a power source here that seems to operate on a similar principle to a battery, and all the wiring is in the proper places to power the targeting mechanism here and the photon emitter here. Miraculous weapons do not require an energy source apart from their Kwami."

Whatever it is," Markov told them, "this weapon is certainly technological in nature. But this technology is far ahead of even me!"

"So what should we do about this thing?" Marinette asked.

"I have some more tests to run with it," Max answered. "With your permission, Adrien, I would also like to purchase some of its component parts and see if there is a way for me to reverse-engineer this weapon to create our own version of it – for _purely_ scientific purposes, of course!"

"Go for it," Adrien replied with a shrug. "The budget can cover it, right?" When Max nodded, Adrien added, "Just make sure the mansion is still standing when you're done: I don't think our insurance covers 'mad scientist!' But can you tell us _anything_?"

"I–" Max hesitated. "I have a wild speculation, but that's all. I said some of the compounds aren't found naturally on earth… but they have been discovered in meteorites."

"'Meteorites,'" Adrien repeated. He glanced at Marinette, whose face perfectly mirrored his own concerned look. "Perfect."

* * *

"Just because Max said some of the materials come from space doesn't mean aliens," Marinette said hopefully.

The two of them were just stepping off the elevator disc after collecting their Kwamis and leaving Headquarters. Adrien glanced around the office, taking in the furnishings, all of which still reminded him of his father. Despite Marinette's gentle encouragement, he still had yet to redecorate or move into the office. All of his memories in that room were of standing on the wrong side of the massive desk, pleading with his father to allow him a few hours with his friends. Were it not for the elevator to Headquarters, he would as soon avoid the room entirely.

He looked over to see Marinette watching him intently. "You know, you _could_ just Cataclysm that desk," she suggested.

"The idea has more appeal to it every time I see that thing," Adrien muttered. "Maybe next time."

Adrien held the door open for Marinette to precede him out. He followed her without a backward glance. The rest of the house, at least, had taken on more life in the past few months. When Adrien had handed Marinette a thick envelope of Euros and asked her to redecorate the mansion's entryway, she had certainly outdone herself. With his permission, she had removed the family portrait from the wall and replaced it with a large group photo of all their friends. The family portrait had found a new, temporary, home on the opposite side of the mansion in a little-used back room. She had designed and commissioned Agreste to fabricate tapestries for the entryway's walls which, if you knew what to look for, showed the history of the Miraculous through the ages. One even depicted the branched history of the Graham de Vanily family in their Guardianship of the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous – or as much as his father has told them of his mother's story. Interspersed with the tapestries were smaller pictures of Adrien with his friends. Since she had finished redecorating, Adrien had almost felt at home walking through those front doors for the first time since his mother's "disappearance."

Adrien took Marinette's hand and led her up the stairs to his room, past a row of pictures showing Adrien and his family in happier times. "It's not just the meteorite thing," he told her, his eyes lingering on a photograph of himself with his arm around Marinette. "That also explains why they felt so… familiar."

"You mean…"

"Cat Bug Noir," Adrien confirmed, frowning. "Don't tell me you didn't think the same. The weapons may _look_ a little different, but the energy they emit, the destruction they cause… It can't be a coincidence, Bug."

"Old Chloe did say something about alien invasions," Marinette admitted, shuddering. "The thought did cross my mind."

"The older-us probably took all the alien weapons left behind after the invasion, handed them to the older Max just like we did, and he tinkered around with them, just like he is now, to make the energy weapons that Old-me eventually used." Adrien grimaced. "It fits."

Marinette squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I know what you're thinking, Kitty," she told him, pushing the bedroom door open and dragging him inside after her. "Now stop it."

"Don't tell me _you_ aren't thinking it, too," he retorted, flopping on the couch and pulling her down onto his lap. She shifted to wrap her arms around him. "It's all happening again. That future where you die is happening again."

"It doesn't have to," she reminded him, running her fingers through his hair. "Our future is not set. Maybe knowing that it's coming will help us avoid the worst of that future. Maybe the other-us didn't get a chance to look at the alien weapons before the invasion came, and maybe having one now will help us prepare better this time. But even if it's all true. Even if that future _does_ happen, there is no one I would rather have by my side to face that future – whatever it holds, however it ends – than you, Kitty."

Adrien nodded and hugged her to himself fiercely, burying his face in her hair. "And I swear, Milady: whatever else happens, it will not end the same way for us."

"I trust you," she whispered, nestling into his chest, "with my life."

"And I trust you both to forever be hopelessly, sappily, romantic," Plagg interjected, phasing out of Adrien's shirt pocket and folding his arms. "You were squishing me! I thought it would get better when you weren't _pining_ after each other; but it's only gotten worse now that you're _dating_ each other! You see? This is why I prefer cheese. Simple, uncomplicated cheese."

"Do you expect me to believe you never romance your cheese?" Adrien retorted. "Because I could hear you last night!"

"Charlene is different," Plagg muttered grumpily.

"You two don't pay any attention to this grumpy old cat," Tikki said, finally phasing out of Marinette's purse. "He slept through the Romantic Period." She grabbed Plagg by the ear. "You two have fun out here; I'll handle him."

Adrien suppressed a chuckle as Tikki dragged a whining Plagg over to the bookcase where Plagg had made his nest. He looked down at Marinette, to find her already staring at him, a questioning look in her eyes. He smiled. "I'm all right, Princess. I promise."

"I know," she said, sliding off his lap to sit on the couch next to him. "Or at least I know that you will be."

Adrien nodded, conceding her point. He turned his gaze to his hands, flexing his fingers slowly. He wasn't entirely okay just yet; the physical scars from that fight may have healed, but the emotional scars still lingered. He knew the same was true for her; they'd cried themselves to sleep in each other's arms enough times in the last month for that to become abundantly clear. Nevertheless, they would get through it the same way they always did: together.

"We don't even know that it _is_ aliens yet," Marinette finally said. "Max has been wrong before; maybe this is just some highly-experimental military project or something. We won't know until we talk to the men who found it."

"Maybe you're right," he admitted, unconvinced.

He glanced back at Marinette, who was looking around the room critically. He followed her gaze to see her staring at the rock climbing wall. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we haven't done the climbing wall in a while," she confirmed. "Race you to the top?"

"You're on!"

* * *

Adrien was brushing his teeth in the bathroom when he heard soft footsteps coming from the bedroom. He concentrated on his teeth as the footsteps grew nearer. Finally he leaned over, spat, and looked into the mirror. "Were you lonely, Princess?"

"No fair," she pouted, de-transforming. "I can never sneak up on you."

"What can I say?" He grinned. "My hearing is just that _claw_-some!"

Marinette rolled her eyes, even as she wrapped her arms around his back. Adrien turned around in her arms to hug her back and took in the sight of her in her pajamas. "I take it you weren't just lonely," he observed. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head, bunching her fists up in his shirt. "I was just closing my eyes when I saw you. You-you were being dragged away by aliens. And there was nothing I could do." She closed her eyes. Adrien put a hand to her face to brush away the tears forming at the corners of her eyelids. "It's so _stupid_!" She weakly punched him in the chest with both fists.

"Shh… It's not stupid," he soothed, holding her tightly. He grimaced. "To be honest, if you hadn't come here, I might have gone to your house instead. But you're safe. I'm safe. We're together, and nothing can pull us apart."

"We're safe," she murmured with a shuddering breath. "We're together, and nothing can pull us apart."

"Besides," Adrien added, "if a bunch of aliens _did_ try to abduct me, I'd Cataclysm them all to dust before I let them take me away from you. And I'd do _worse_ if they tried to take _you_…"

"I know," she said, burying her face in his chest. "It's just a nightmare."

"It was enough to scare you out of your own bed in your own house, and into mine," he reminded her. "Do your parents know you came over?"

"I left a note."

He nodded and led her back into the bedroom. "We have an early appointment with Sabrina's father tomorrow, so we should get to sleep." He slid under the covers, and Marinette lay down beside him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. "You're safe now," he whispered, earning a contented sigh. "Good night, Princess."

"Good night, my Prince."


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: This is the end of "An Interrupted Date." Tomorrow I'll publish the next story in "An Adrienette Anthology," and Tuesday I will start the next multi-chapter story, "Along Came Anansi."_

_To The Keeper of Worlds: Possibly; it is still about 4 years before when the "RooT"-verse invasion occurred, so there may be time. We'll just have to see what happens…_

* * *

Cat Noir landed on the top steps of the police station, Ladybug right beside him, promptly at 8 the next morning and walked straight inside to Lieutenant Raincomprix's office.

"What can I do for you today?" he asked, looking up from his paperwork and glancing between them.

"We have a few questions for the attackers from the other day, the ones with the energy weapons," Cat Noir answered. "Pegasus examined the one we recovered, but now we need to find out where it came from."

Lieutenant Raincomprix nodded and led them to an interrogation room. "It isn't exactly standard procedure for non-police personnel to question prisoners," he told them. "But I think I can make an exception for you. Wait here while I bring one of them."

A few minutes later he returned, leading a handcuffed prisoner. "Come on, Berr," he said. "Ladybug and Cat Noir have some questions for you, and you'd better cooperate. Trust me: you don't want them angry!" With that he pushed Berr into the chair and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"You expect me to talk to a couple of costumed freaks?" Berr scoffed, leaning his chair onto its back legs and eyeing them appraisingly.

"Well, that's a start," Ladybug observed, arching an eyebrow.

"Not much of one," Cat Noir argued, sitting down opposite Berr. Under the table he surreptitiously withdrew his baton and hit the control to extend it slightly. "The thing is, _Berr_," he went on, leaning forward, "I _do_ expect you to talk. I expect you to tell us exactly what we want to know. And I know that if you _don't_–" he poked one leg of the chair with his baton, knocking it off-balance. Berr yelped in surprise and pushed himself forward just in time to avoid falling over backward. "–you won't like the consequences."

"You really don't want to test my partner," Ladybug added, folding her arms. "He's been a little upset since you showed up and interrupted a perfectly nice evening. And when he gets in that mood… let's just say that he can turn into a very naughty kitty."

"All right, all right, geez, lady," Berr muttered. "So what did you want to know?"

"Where did the weapons come from?" Ladybug asked.

"We just found 'em."

"You just 'found' futuristic energy weapons?" Cat Noir deadpanned. He turned to Ladybug. "Does he think we were born yesterday?"

"I'm telling you the truth!"

"Say that you _are_ telling the truth," Ladybug replied leaning forward and resting her hands on the table. "_Where_ did you 'just find' them?"

"We were walking around in the forest, a few kilometers south of the city, when we stumbled across them lying in a pit," Berr said rapidly. "We didn't know what to do with them, so we just kept them. My partner, Lamy, he had the bright idea to see what they could do."

"So you decided the best way to test these unknown weapons was by blowing up half of Paris?" Cat Noir asked incredulously, feeling the hackles on the back of his neck stand up.

"Well, how else were we supposed to find out what they can do?" Berr shrugged. "Not like there was anything better to do."

"This pit where you found these weapons," Ladybug interjected, giving him a look of disgust, "where is it? Draw me a map."

Ten minutes later, Ladybug and Cat Noir stepped out of the police station with a map in hand showing where Berr and Lamy had found the energy weapons.

"That went a lot easier than I expected it to," Ladybug observed, squeezing his hand.

Cat Noir smiled and pulled her into an alleyway to de-transform. As their costumes faded away, he pulled Marinette close and wrapped his arms around her waist. She rested her head against his chest, and he kissed her hair. Then he took out his phone and called Ivan.

"Adrien?" Ivan mumbled sleepily. "You do realize it's 8:30 on a Saturday morning, right?"

"I know," Adrien told him. "I know it's early, but I was wondering if you and Mylène would be up for a double date with me and Marinette in a little while."

"I'll ask her," Ivan said with a yawn. "But we're definitely in if she's up for it. What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, a nice, easy stroll in the woods," he answered. Marinette rolled her eyes, and he gave her a Cheshire grin and winked.

"Sounds like fun," Ivan replied. "I take it we should bring hiking boots?"

"Actually… you should bring your miraculous."

"Ah." Adrien could hear the amusement in his voice. "I should've known there'd be a catch. Never simple with you, is it, Agreste?"

"You know me so well." Adrien grinned. "Can you guys meet us at the mansion in an hour or so?"

"Are you saying it's okay for Mylène to know your identities?"

"Are you saying you didn't already _tell_ her our identities?"

"Are you saying you can actually keep secrets from your girlfriend? Because _I_ sure as hell can't!"

"Fair point," Adrien conceded. "Thanks, Ivan. I owe you one."

"You sure do!"

Adrien chuckled. "See you in an hour."

He ended the call and put his phone away. He smiled at Marinette. "Now let's hope _finding_ this pit is easy. And that we don't actually _need_ the big guy on this one…"

* * *

An hour later, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Taureau Dechaine, and Multiplice stepped through a portal in the Heroes' Headquarters and emerged in a forest, about half a kilometer from the location they'd gotten from the two criminals. Cat Noir set a brisk pace toward the location, scanning the trees around them for signs of movement, his staff out and recording video of the woods for Pegasus. Behind him, he knew Taureau Dechaine was watching the woods as well, with the two girls sandwiched between them. The heroes didn't speak; the tension was thick in the air.

"Look at the tops of those trees," Multiplice whispered, pointing ahead. Cat Noir followed where she pointed and saw that the tops of several trees had broken off, leaving scorch marks behind. However, new growth had already begun to cover the scorch marks. The row of broken treetops drew a straight line to the ground about a kilometer to their left.

"Well, I think we know where we're heading now," Ladybug observed wryly.

Cat Noir turned and led the group toward the end of the line of broken trees. Suddenly this felt even more real than it had the night before. Whatever was at the end of this trail had to be the source of the energy weapons. He tightened his grip on his staff and gritted his teeth as they arrived at their destination. It didn't take much for him to imagine eyes watching them from the dark woods, but even his miraculous-enhanced senses couldn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary.

Cat Noir stopped short at the rim and stared down into a deep crater as the others stopped alongside him. At the bottom of the crater, he could see an oblong brown object, about ten meters across and 30 meters long. The end furthest from where they stood looked to have crumpled in on itself in the crash.

"That does not look like a meteorite," Ladybug breathed.

"So what's the plan now?" Taureau Dechaine asked, his eyes flickering between Ladybug and Cat Noir.

Cat Noir looked closer at the object before taking a couple of pictures on his staff and sending them to Pegasus. From this distance he couldn't quite make it out, but there appeared to be an opening at the top near the far end. "Now, we explore," he replied. And he jumped off the crater rim and surfed down the crater wall, using his staff to maintain his balance. A tumble of dirt and pebbles around him warned that the others had followed his lead. As he maneuvered down to the crash site, Cat Noir couldn't repress a shudder of unease.

When they reached the ship – Cat Noir couldn't think of it as anything else now that he was standing right next to it – Ladybug shook her head, squared her shoulders, and took charge. "Right… Multiplice, could you scout it out? You can cover a lot more ground a lot quieter than the rest of us. If you get into any trouble, we'll be right outside."

Multiplice paled, but nevertheless nodded as Taureau Dechaine placed a massive hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. She removed an earpiece from one end of her jump rope and put it in her ear before walking over to the opening and whispering, "Multitude." She disappeared in a flash of pink light as she multiplied and shrank, dropping inside the ship.

The other heroes all retrieved their own earpieces. "Can you hear me okay?" Multiplice asked a few moments later.

"What do you see?" Ladybug asked.

"I'm not sure," she replied, sounding winded. "There are only a couple of rooms in here; it's not very large at all!"

"That's saying something, coming from you!" Cat Noir joked.

"Ha ha," Multiplice retorted. "I'm in what looks like a cockpit and I see two chairs. There's two – somethings – strapped into them."

Taureau Dechaine leaned forward. "Are you okay? Are they alive?"

"They're not moving," she reported. "It smells like they've been here a while and – yeah, there's something on the floor under the chairs, probably blood. I'm sending you some pictures of them."

Another Multiplice clone chimed in. "This room in the back seems to be for storage, but it's completely empty."

"What can you tell me about the cockpit?" Pegasus asked. Cat Noir rolled his eyes at the eagerness in his voice.

"Not much," Multiplice answered a moment later. "There are a bunch of buttons and a couple of sticks. Nothing seems to be active."

"Do you see anyone or anything else inside?" Ladybug asked.

"Nothing."

"I'm coming in," Ladybug announced, running over and dropping through the hatch, followed by Cat Noir. "It's a little tight for you with all of us in here, Taureau," she called out as Taureau Dechaine made to follow.

Cat Noir activated the light on his staff and followed Ladybug toward the front of the ship, where they saw a pair of Multiplice clones sitting on top of a console and testing the various buttons. A third was crawling up the legs of one of the alien bodies. Looking closer at the aliens in the light of his staff, he could see that their skin was a dull green-grey color. The facial features reminded him of nothing so much as the artist recreations of velociraptors from his biology book. On each hand it had four sharp claws, one of which was opposite the other three. One's mouth lolled open, revealing a row of sharp fangs.

"What are these things?" Ladybug asked in shock.

"Dead," Cat Noir replied shortly, poking one with his staff. "Probably been dead for a while. These woods are so deserted this ship could have sat here for months and no one would have found it."

"Based on the pictures you sent," Pegasus began, "I estimate a 70% chance that this ship has been in its present location for between six and twelve months. The aliens appear to have been dead at least that long, as well. Probably died on impact."

"Give us a couple of minutes and then open a portal so we can take the ship back to Headquarters," Ladybug ordered as the clones reformed into a single, full-sized Multiplice. "We need to know everything."

"I'll do my best, but I'm not a miracle-worker," Pegasus replied.

The three heroes exited the ship quickly and joined Taureau Dechaine at the "rear" of the ship, just as Pegasus opened a portal right in front of the ship's crumpled "front" end. Taureau Dechaine braced his shoulder against the smooth metal and shouted, "Stampede!" With assistance from the other three, he slowly pushed the ship through the portal, where it traced a long rut in the butterfly garden's grass before coming to rest along the side wall next to Pegasus' lab.

As the heroes followed the ship through the portal, Multiplice turned to Taureau Dechaine, giggled, and commented, "You really know how to show a girl a good time."

"Next time this one invites us on a double date, I'll be sure to ask what it _is_ before agreeing!" he grunted back, nodding toward Cat Noir as he did so.

"Can I make it up to you?" Cat Noir asked, de-transforming. "How about pizza, popcorn, and a movie?"

"That sounds nice!" Multiplice squealed, hugging a de-transformed Marinette, who smiled back at her.

"If you need to shower or change or anything, I've got about 18 unused rooms upstairs," Adrien offered. "And about half of them are stuffed with unsold clothing, so help yourself to anything that fits."

As Taureau Dechaine and Multiplice rode the elevator to the mansion, Adrien turned to Pegasus. "You're free to join us, too," he told him.

Pegasus shook his head as he de-transformed. "I'm going to get started on this," he told them, gesturing to the ship. "However, I would certainly appreciate some pizza later!"

"I'll be sure to bring some down," Marinette told him, wrapping her arm around Adrien's waist. "But before we leave, do we need to be worried? What if they come back?"

"I do not think they will," Max replied. "I cannot know for certain, of course, but this looks like a short-range vessel akin to an escape pod. If they were going to retrieve it, doubtless they would have done so long before now. For now, I will contact the military to look for any more of these vessels, but I do not believe we have anything to worry about at this moment."

"That's good," Marinette said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"It is indeed, Bugaboo," Adrien replied, pulling her in tight and kissing her hair. "Now, shall we get on with our _actual_ date?"

"Lead the way, Kitty!"

* * *

_As a reminder, Taureau Dechaine is Ivan (with the Ox Miraculous) and Multiplice is Mylène (with the Mouse Miraculous). Max/Pegasus elected to keep his Miraculous after "Mind Games" but primarily serves as the Heroes' "tech guy."_


End file.
